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And it's only Monday

Military plane crashes in Mississippi; at least 5 dead

https://www.yahoo.com/news/officials-military-plane-crashes-killing-least-5-dead-001336104.html

RIP to these soldiers. Accidents happen, but it doesn't suck any less.

But if that wasn't bad enough:

U.S. Army soldier arrested in Hawaii on terrorism charges

https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-army-soldier-arrested-hawaii-terrorism-charges-000707435.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Army sergeant who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and is now stationed in Hawaii has been arrested on charges of providing material support to Islamic State extremists, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Monday.

Ikaika Kang, 34, assigned to the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, had been under investigation by the Army and FBI for more than a year and was taken into custody by FBI agents on Saturday, according to a bureau statement provided to Reuters.

According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Honolulu, Kang has sworn allegiance to Islamic State, also known as ISIS, the militant group that seized large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq for a self-proclaimed caliphate.

He is also accused of attempting to provide military documents and training to the group, the FBI said in its statement.

Federal authorities believe that Kang, who was assigned to the Army's Schofield Barracks on the island of Oahu, was a "lone actor" who had no known associations with anyone who might pose a threat to Hawaii, the FBI said.

He was slated to make an initial court appearance on Monday afternoon.

Kang, an air traffic control specialist who attained the rank of sergeant first class, served three overseas tours of duty - one each in South Korea (2002-03), Iraq (2010-11) and Afghanistan (2013-14), according to his Army service record.

The Schofield Barracks, about 17 miles (27 km) from Honolulu, was established in 1908 as a garrison for the Army's defense of Pearl Harbor and the island of Oahu, and is home to more than 22,000 military personnel and family members.

The Army has sought to prevent a repeat of Islamist militant violence by one of its own since the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas by then-Army Major Nidal Hasan, a U.S.-born Muslim who killed 13 people and wounded 32 others in an attack he claimed as retribution for American wars in the Muslim world.

________

Nothing worse than a traitor. If convicted, he needs to hang.

On a good note, Mosul was liberated today by Iraqi, Kurdish and American troops with coalition air support.

AT LEAST 16 DIE IN MILITARY PLANE CRASH IN RURAL MISSISSIPPI



ITJul 11, 7:57 AM EDT
link

TA BENA, Miss. (AP) -- A U.S. military plane used for refueling crashed into a soybean field in rural Mississippi, killing at least 16 people aboard in a fiery wreckage and spreading debris for miles, officials said.

Leflore County Emergency Management Agency Director Frank Randle told reporters at a briefing late Monday that 16 bodies had been recovered after the KC-130 spiraled into the ground about 85 miles (135 kilometers) north of Jackson in the Mississippi Delta. A witness said some bodies were found more than a mile from the crash site.

Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Sarah Burns said in a statement that a KC-130 "experienced a mishap" Monday evening but provided no details. The KC-130 is used as a refueling tanker.

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, who represents North Carolina, said the plane was from the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. Tillis, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, said in a statement Tuesday morning that he and his wife were extending their deepest condolences to the families of the Marines killed, as well as to the Cherry Point station.

Andy Jones said he was working on his family's catfish farm just before 4 p.m. when he heard a boom and looked up to see the plane corkscrewing downward with one engine smoking.

"You looked up and you saw the plane twirling around," he said. "It was spinning down."

Jones said the plane hit the ground behind trees in the soybean field, and by the time he and other reached the crash site, fires were burning too intensely to approach the wreckage. The force of the crash nearly flattened the plane, Jones said.

"Beans are about waist-high, and there wasn't much sticking out above the beans," he said.

Jones said a man borrowed his cellphone to report to authorities that there were bodies across U.S. Highway 82, more than a mile from the crash site.

Greenwood Fire Chief Marcus Banks told the Greenwood Commonwealth that debris from the plane was scattered in a radius of about 5 miles (8 kilometers).

Jones said firefighters tried to put out the fire at the main crash site but withdrew after an explosion forced them back. The fire produced towering plumes of black smoke visible for miles across the flat region and continued to burn after dusk, more than four hours after the crash.

Aerial pictures taken by WLBT-TV showed the skeleton of the plane burning strongly.

"It was one of the worst fires you can imagine," Jones said. He said the fire was punctuated by the pops of small explosions.

Officials did not release information on what caused the crash.